Contents

Background

Pre-production on Bond 25 has reportedly started with Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli producing the film. EON Productions, MGM and Sony/Columbia Pictures will be producing the film. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will be distributing the film on home video on behalf of Metro Goldwyn Mayer as Sony's main studio partner and once had a stake in MGM.

Rumors

After the critical and box office success of Skyfall, and, critical success Spectre Hollywood went into a flurry of rumours for Bond’s next outing Bond 25.

Cast & Characters

Daniel Craig is signed on to star in Bond 25 but the actor has publicly stated that he would step down from the franchise if he felt he would be too old to play the character and he was too exhausted after 8 months of filming Spectre (which included an on-set injury). Many fans have made suggestions about who could take on the role if Craig leaves, the list of names include Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston, Tom Hardy, Damian Lewis, Henry Cavill, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Aidan Turner, Theo James, Charlie Hunnam, James Norton, Luke Evans and Chris Hemsworth.

However, there are rumours that Daniel Craig turned down to play the world's secret agent according to The Daily Mail[1] while his decisions have not been made according to the BBC.[2] It was later reported that Sony has offered Craig $150 million to reprise the role twice more.[3]

Crew

A popular news story, started by the blog Deadline, reports the Skyfall writer John Logan has been commissioned by Wilson & Broccoli to pen Spectre and Bond 25 as a two-parter. [5][6][7] Months later, this rumor was repudiated but no official announcement either way has been made. Logan did pen the script for Spectre and may be considered a front-runner for hemming the Bond 25 script.

Release date

The film will likely be released in October or November, given the history of Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre. In July of 2016 Barbara Broccoli mentioned Bond 25 would likely release in 2018.[8]

Distribution

As of June 2nd, Sony Pictures could lose distribution rights to the Bond films. If such an event occurs, distribution would be handed over to another studio after the release of Spectre; including Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Bros Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, and 20th Century Fox.[9]

According to a blog website, it was reported that Disney; best known for being the media empire for over 90 years; could handle distribution rights to the James Bond films due to the box office success of Lucasfilm's Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[10] however, it depends on how the deal works in order to out-bid Warner Bros and others.[11] A new report from Forbes contributor Scott Mendelson; it is getting closer that the company itself should buy the Bond franchise after rumours spread over the past few months but this time to keep it away for the competition to get one step further ahead.[12]

It was originally reported in June 2015 that Warner Bros may be the new distributor of the James Bond franchise.[13] However, this perhaps will not work out following the disappointed box office drop of Batman V Superman: Dawn for Justice,[14] but a later Forbes report in June 2016 stated that WB wouldn't give up and would be the most likely studio to secure the Bond rights, partially due to a strong friendship between MGM chairman and CEO Gary Barber and WB chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara.[15] However, it has been once again reconsidered due to publicity troubles with DC films as of August 2016.[citation needed]